[When Edward returns to his ship, he'll find Mikleo and Jun gone. Not only that, but there'll be a sizable bloodstain on the deck, a lot of water, and some damage from a fight.
Eventually, he'll get a text from Jun who is laid up in bed back at his home]
Sorry for the mess on the deck. We're ok just had a run in I'll be back to clean it up in a couple days.
[ the largest of the birds, a brilliant creature of greens and purples, turns it's head directly down toward edward as he calls up to them. those sharp golden eyes narrow before it... speaks?
yeah, it's speaking. also not moving it's beak like you'd see in the movies. ]
Arcadia? Understood. [ then it just launches itself and takes flight.
[Sometimes you just have to stare off into the distance a bit and consider that this is your new normal. People can turn into birds and talk to him and this is just normal now.]
Do any of you lot have anything else to say?
[He’ll text Jun back:]
You know, I knew a man who went raving mad after too long stuck on a deserted island. He never talked to any bird.
I’m not certain how but I know far too many people who can turn into birds. Or just outright talking birds.
Honestly? There was already something a wee bit off about Charles Vane even before we were marooned on an island together. The marooning, and finding a stash of weapons around, just made him worse.
[Jun can't help but smile softly at the phone. His memories flashback to his past life, and all those late nights he'd spend after missions, texting friends like he was a normal kid while he recovered from some new round of injuries the Eclipse had given him.]
Sure. That sounds like it'd be a good story to hear.
All right, so: Nassau used to have a governor named Trott, once. Now this fellow hadn't heard of Captain Henry Every taking an Indian ship full to bursting with treasure of all sorts, so he thought nothing of it when Every's ship, the Fancy, came to Nassau's docks and unloaded a crew of rowdy men looking to spend their ill-gotten riches on whatever was in town. And this was a small town, mind, barely a collection of huts and shacks, a fort with barely any men in it, and maybe a run-down church somewhere. The riches that came out of the Fancy were of the sort they'd never seen before, and would never see since.
Now, Every knew that he was in great danger. If the English found him, he was sure to hang from his neck till he was dead. But when he spoke to Trott, he realized two things:
1. Trott didn't know who he was 2. Trott, moreover, would not care if he did know, because he needed money and badly.
So he proposed a deal with the governor: he would leave the Fancy, and most of his men who wanted to stay, in Nassau. All Trott needed to do? Was to look the other way while they docked. The fellow wasn't stupid, he knew these were pirates, but they had money and whatever they had plundered was enough to keep Nassau afloat for a little while longer, so of course he agreed.
And so Captain Every and his men tarried in Nassau for a little while longer. In the meantime, though, a proclamation had gone out to arrest them, and bring them to England to swing from the gallows.
And one fine day in Nassau, Trott got the proclamation that not only confirmed his suspicions, but exceeded them.
Well, the first thing he did was to panic. “Devil take me now for I am a damned man either way,” he said, or at least that’s what the drunks on Nassau say he said. He could submit to the English and turn Every over, thereby making an enemy out of a man who was dangerous enough to brazenly take an Indian treasure ship, or he could protect Every and raise the ire of the English.
He decided to risk pissing off the pirates, and alerted the English as to who was staying on Nassau. However, he also personally went to Every and his men and told them of what he’d done—warned them, in fact, to get off Nassau before the English arrived. So Every and his men left their ship in the harbor and split up.
From there, Captain Every simply vanished right into thin air—him, and his gold. They’ve been looking for him ever since, for they only ever managed to catch maybe twenty, twenty-five men out of his crew? And they hanged five of them. As for the rest, they disappeared with him. Perhaps they started a kingdom of their own, their very own Libertalia. Perhaps they went back home to England under false names, and lived the rest of their lives in quietude, rich beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.
Or perhaps the sea took Henry Every and his men, and their bones lie buried in the sea floor, along with all the treasure that was once the grandest prize a pirate ever took. We might never know. But I’ve trod this path long enough to know for certain: we pirates don’t tend to retire in peace and ease.
Ah, but Zheng Yi Sao did. I think she's after you time, but not only was she extremely successful as a pirate, but she got to retire and lived well into her 60's.
[Check it out, he did actually pay attention to Zhongli's Chinese history class.
But to focus on the story at hand.]
... I like to think Every got away, maybe traveled to some unknown lands and made a go of it there. That'd be a good ending to his story.
I've heard about her. That "ghost" fellow on the network brought her up while we were talking. Apparently she ran a gambling den long after she retired from piracy. I looked her up afterward and she's long after my time—my own children would be long grown, by the time she was born.
[Wikipedia, he does love you and how fast you load on his phone.]
That's what I used to think, and enough of the pirates I knew years ago used to swear they'd seen Every walking around somewhere. Exactly where tended to vary: one of the powder monkeys swore blind that he'd spotted Every in a gambling house in Kingston while the cook drunkenly confessed he'd met the man when he was eight in England.
Now, I'm not sure. The stories of the pirates I knew, the ones I drank with and fought alongside—none of them ended well. Now I wonder if a rogue wave hadn't caught him unawares.
...I'm bringing the mood down, aren't I? I like your ending better.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
UN: hikari-vi | text | After the Teresa confrontation
Eventually, he'll get a text from Jun who is laid up in bed back at his home]
Sorry for the mess on the deck.
We're ok just had a run in
I'll be back to clean it up in a couple days.
[How...thoughtful???]
no subject
He was already going to kill her before, but she’s gone after his friends on his ship. He’s going to kill her. She’s not going to see the weekend.]
Jun, you and Mikleo need to go somewhere that you know for certain is safe. Stay there, and don’t come back to the Jackdaw until the danger’s passed.
I’ll do what I can for Blade and Dan Heng.
Stay safe. Please.
no subject
[He knows better to argue. He'll need a day before he's fully recovered anyway, even with Mikleo's healing]
Tell the birds we've returned to Arcadia. They'll know what you mean.
[The Bird Mafia]
no subject
[And then he’ll clean up the other mess.
He squints at the message, then heaves a great big sigh and looks up at the birds perched nearby.]
They’ve returned to Arcadia. [A pause.] Bloody hell, I look insane.
no subject
yeah, it's speaking. also not moving it's beak like you'd see in the movies. ]
Arcadia? Understood. [ then it just launches itself and takes flight.
later. ]
Text
Thank you Captain.
I should be back on my feet by tomorrow.
Please take care, okay?
no subject
Do any of you lot have anything else to say?
[He’ll text Jun back:]
You know, I knew a man who went raving mad after too long stuck on a deserted island. He never talked to any bird.
I’m not certain how but I know far too many people who can turn into birds. Or just outright talking birds.
I’ll be careful.
no subject
Maybe he should've talked to the birds. Might've kept him sane.
no subject
no subject
But I think I've had my fill of unstable people with access to weapons today.
So raincheck?
no subject
[Edward is already pulling up his hood. Disposable clothes first. Then he has to track her down. The city's big, so it'll take a while.]
I do have another story, though.
Want me to tell you about how Henry Every escaped from the king's justice?
no subject
Sure. That sounds like it'd be a good story to hear.
no subject
Now, Every knew that he was in great danger. If the English found him, he was sure to hang from his neck till he was dead. But when he spoke to Trott, he realized two things:
1. Trott didn't know who he was
2. Trott, moreover, would not care if he did know, because he needed money and badly.
So he proposed a deal with the governor: he would leave the Fancy, and most of his men who wanted to stay, in Nassau. All Trott needed to do? Was to look the other way while they docked. The fellow wasn't stupid, he knew these were pirates, but they had money and whatever they had plundered was enough to keep Nassau afloat for a little while longer, so of course he agreed.
And so Captain Every and his men tarried in Nassau for a little while longer. In the meantime, though, a proclamation had gone out to arrest them, and bring them to England to swing from the gallows.
And one fine day in Nassau, Trott got the proclamation that not only confirmed his suspicions, but exceeded them.
no subject
But eventually he does regain consciousness, and managed to read the story. And so he texts back, hours later:]
What'd Trott do then?
[MUST HEAR COMPLETE STORY]
no subject
He decided to risk pissing off the pirates, and alerted the English as to who was staying on Nassau. However, he also personally went to Every and his men and told them of what he’d done—warned them, in fact, to get off Nassau before the English arrived. So Every and his men left their ship in the harbor and split up.
From there, Captain Every simply vanished right into thin air—him, and his gold. They’ve been looking for him ever since, for they only ever managed to catch maybe twenty, twenty-five men out of his crew? And they hanged five of them. As for the rest, they disappeared with him. Perhaps they started a kingdom of their own, their very own Libertalia. Perhaps they went back home to England under false names, and lived the rest of their lives in quietude, rich beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.
Or perhaps the sea took Henry Every and his men, and their bones lie buried in the sea floor, along with all the treasure that was once the grandest prize a pirate ever took. We might never know. But I’ve trod this path long enough to know for certain: we pirates don’t tend to retire in peace and ease.
no subject
[Check it out, he did actually pay attention to Zhongli's Chinese history class.
But to focus on the story at hand.]
... I like to think Every got away, maybe traveled to some unknown lands and made a go of it there. That'd be a good ending to his story.
no subject
[Wikipedia, he does love you and how fast you load on his phone.]
That's what I used to think, and enough of the pirates I knew years ago used to swear they'd seen Every walking around somewhere. Exactly where tended to vary: one of the powder monkeys swore blind that he'd spotted Every in a gambling house in Kingston while the cook drunkenly confessed he'd met the man when he was eight in England.
Now, I'm not sure. The stories of the pirates I knew, the ones I drank with and fought alongside—none of them ended well. Now I wonder if a rogue wave hadn't caught him unawares.
...I'm bringing the mood down, aren't I? I like your ending better.
no subject
He borrows Jun's phone for a minute.]
Hey, this is Mikleo. As much as Jun loves storytime, he really needs to get some rest. Magical healing only does so much.
If you need anything from us, you can message me and I'll take care of it.
... Thanks again for taking us in. I'm sorry for the trouble.
no subject
No trouble at all, mate. Let me know if there’s anything more I can do for either of you and I’ll do my best.
If Jun tries to come back to the Jackdaw to clean up his own blood, don’t let him. I can clean the deck.
[Right after he kills Teresa.]